An Athens favorite used to strike the need to have a great, competitive night with friends, but recently the sound of crashing pins has dimmed.
Rollerbowl Lanes, a former bowling alley in Athens, has been closed for the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving Athens residents without a local alley.
Rollerbowl was the only bowling alley in Athens, located on 28 Palmer St., and now, the closest bowling alley is 30 minutes away in a neighboring town, Logan.
Rollerbowl Lanes momentarily reopened in September 2020, according to a previous Post report. The bowling alley was only open for three nights a week, two of which catered to league play. At the kickstart of its opening, the front of Rollerbowl was repainted and refurbished to showcase its new look.
However, the bowling alley did not stay open for long and shut down again. Since then, it has not made any more updates on its website indicating when it will, if ever, re-open.
The closing of Rollerbowl affected many community members, including the Athens County Special Olympics Bowling Team. Bowling gave the organization a fun way to compete as well as socialize with one another.
Janet Wallisch, the former Athens County Special Olympics Bowling coach, said the renovations to the bowling alley were misleading to community members. When the bowling alley first shut down, many people turned to Wallisch and asked if she had any information as to when it would re-open.
Margaret Hutzel, an Athens community member, said she was getting excited when she saw the fresh coat of paint on the outside of Rollerbowl. But, to her disappointment, it is still not open.
“It seems like a shame with all the equipment, their lanes, it's all ready to go,” Hutzel said.
Rollerbowl became a destination for the Developmental Disability, or DD, community to gather. It was a place they could socialize, meet with friends, exercise and take part in competitive league play.
Hutzel, said her son Gabriel, who was on the Athens County Special Olympics Bowling Team, not only misses the bowling alley, but everything it offered. It was a way for him to gather with his friends and have fun.
“The community has lost their special olympics bowling team because they don't have any place to practice,” Hutzel said.
Hutzel said Rollerbowl brought in a multitude of different groups of people who wanted to participate in bowling.
“It's not just special olympics bowlers,” Hutzel said. “It's all the league bowlers and then all the other folks that just took advantage of the bowling alley. I would see college students there with clearly what appeared to me to be family visiting from elsewhere.”
Hutzel also noted the price to play a game was fairly reasonable, ranging between four to five dollars per game. For college students, it was another affordable activity to do while staying close to campus.
Deb Burleigh, whose son Peter was also on the Athens County Special Olympics Bowling Team, said she was determined to figure out what the next move for Rollerbowl was and reached out to several different news outlets looking for answers.
“I've been working with the Commission on Disabilities praying that the city might intervene somehow, but I don't know how much faith I have in that,” Burleigh said.
Many community members are still hoping Rollerbowl will re-open its doors and allow the community to come back in and bowl.
“We just really miss the bowling alley,” Hutzel said. “It's a real loss for the community. If somebody opens it back up, we'll be there twice a week.”
